Min Thein Kha - I can't.

Chapter (1)

On an old house

An adult who doesn't drink coffee

There is a highway called Kyawkasan that goes from Mau Kone to Tamwe in Yangon. There is an old house facing Kyawkasan Road. The house was built during the British era, so it is very old. It is a black house that has been painted with oil. The glass windows and the railings are white, so it was once a very beautiful house, but because it has been used for many years without being repaired, looking at the house is like seeing an old woman wearing old clothes that were once beautiful, but now they are old and torn.

The glass in the windows is also not complete... The broken part is broken and the cracked part is already cracked. Because the wind has entered those places, they have been patched with cardboard and plywood, so the once beautiful glass windows are looking even worse.

The white polished pillars installed on the balcony and stairs were also broken at the point where they had come out, and the broken ones were already broken, so they were about to fall apart. Looking at these things, it was as ugly as seeing an old woman with broken teeth laughing hysterically.

The glass chandeliers and glass lanterns hanging from the ceiling were also covered in soot and cobwebs, making them look very unsightly.

An old bed was placed in the room that was used as a guest room. One of the bedposts was broken, so a bamboo pole was tied to the broken stump to make a mosquito net, leaving the once magnificent guest room in a state of disrepair.

From the kitchen, an old man in his fifties came into the living room, sitting on a wheelchair, which was designed for people who could not lift their lower body. He pushed the wheel with his hands. He went to the bed with his little cart. I looked at the old table next to the bed. On the old table, there were cigarette cases and medicine bottles, a cup with pencils and pens, a plate covered with a plastic cover, glasses with broken arms and leather straps, a jar of perfume, a box with ear buds... and so on.

The old man walked over to the table and looked at it.

"Mummy... Cheew Mai Coffee..." he said loudly, walking towards the living room, one side green and the other red.

"I'm out of coffee powder... Daddy... I'll bring you some coffee powder when I get back from the office..."

When I said that, the old man frowned.

"Those are difficult... things that you have to buy in advance before they run out..."

"He complained." Then the old woman said,

"I know I have to buy it..., Daddy... money... money..."

"He said, "I'm going to show you around here." Then the old man said, "I'm going to show you around here."

"Hide... money..." he shouted back.

"That big dick said, 'Hidden money'"

"We're in trouble because we don't have any..." the old woman said in a soft voice. | The old man

"Money is a treasure... It's not hard to have only two coins... I earned a lot of it... Have you forgotten that I gave it to you every 7 days in a big leather bag that I hung there..."

If you say so, the aunt

“I don’t forget, Daddy… Back then, Daddy (who had a good reputation for getting an import license) was the one everyone was staring at… At that time, how much did a jeep cost… If you paid more than two thousand, you could get a good jeep…, I bought you one, and you bought a jeep with a jeep…, you were still young at that time, weren’t you? They even called you Lady Jeep…, now Lady Jeep is also poor and has become a dirty lady, Daddy…” he replied.

At that moment, their eldest daughter, Tat Tat, came down from upstairs.

"Daughter... I'm out of coffee powder. Daddy, I can't drink coffee this morning. Don't forget to buy coffee powder when you get back from the office..."

When the aunt said, "Tek Tak,"

"Mummy... Today is Sunday.. I can't go to the office..." he replied, and the old man looked at Tat Tat's face with a frown.

“Sunday... Sun... Day... Every day isn't Sunday... Sunday... Every day isn't Sunday...”

He said. Then he went up.

“But... Today is... Sunday..., although not every day is Sunday... today is Sunday, Dad. •••

"Sorry about the coffee powder..."

"He said, slowly spreading his hands. Then the old man said,

"Coffee... coffee... what's so hard about it..., it's just two letters..., coffee, coffee... what's so hard about it..."

He said this, laughing in a deep, broken voice.

Haha... haha... haha... haha..

Poverty is beautiful.

Soon, the young daughter of the old man and the old woman, “Khat Khat”, came into the living room. Khat Khat was not yet old enough. She was only about 8 years old. Khat Khat pushed U Ye, who was riding a big donkey, behind her. U Ye moved forward.

Then, turning to the aunt,

"Daughter... what should I eat, Mommy..."

He asked.

"I've cooked beans and fried rice."

"The old lady said, and she pursed her lips.

"Daughter, I don't like that, I want to eat some bread..."

He replied,

"I can't eat it if I don't want to... I don't have it..."

The old lady circled her fingers and thumb.

"If you tell me, it doesn't exist, tell me it does..."

Saying this, Khat Khat circled his fingers and thumbs, indicating that the old lady was listening.

“I have to say, there is no such thing as this. In this big house, my uncle and I cannot work. We have no income. My mother has no income. My uncle and I are going to work abroad. We will send money from there. Don’t tell us about the money. Not even a single letter has come. We only have the income from the office. My mother and I have to sell our belongings and live. What good is it, my daughter? Don’t tell us about it too early.” The little girl, who was only about 8 years old, looked at her mother and became unhappy. Then the old lady went to the house of her parents and talked to a young man from the house of her parents. It would be more accurate to say that she borrowed money to cook breakfast that day than to say that she talked. The young man told the old lady

"Mummy... I'm broke too, because it's almost the end of the month. I don't have the ten kyats you said, I only need five kyats..." He said, and took out a five kyat note from his diary and gave it to the aunt. When the aunt got the five kyats, she returned to her house and went out onto the walkway in front of the house. Then he looked for someone with his eyes. While he was looking, he saw a 9-10 year-old boy named Thagong from the car repair shop about 3 houses away.

"Sargoung... come to my mother for a moment," he said, approaching her and whispering softly. She nodded her head. Then, holding the five-kyat coin, Sagor ran away from her. She went back inside her house.

After a while, the little boy returned. In his hand, he brought a bag of chickpeas wrapped in rice, a few chili peppers, a bag of onions, and some coffee powder wrapped in paper.

The old woman reached out and took the packages that Tha Gaung had given her, then gave Tha Gaung a piece of toast.

“You can eat it…” he said. Then, the old man gave the old man the instant coffee powder that the old man had brought. The old man had given up hope of drinking coffee this morning, and when he saw a cup of hot coffee, he

“Oh... good... good... good...” he murmured. The aunt also prepared a bowl of spicy lentil soup with the chickpeas, chilies, and onions that she had bought from Thagoung for breakfast and dinner.

"The pit of poverty is so deep... When will it reach the lips..."

As I thought, tears welled up in my eyes....